R.U.S.E.

Game Summary

In R.U.S.E., a player’s ability to deceive and mislead enemies will determine his or her success, a first for a strategy game. Using military strategy and wartime tactics such as camouflaging troops, luring opponents with decoy units, sabotaging enemy plans and more, players must use their brainpower as the ultimate weapon in order to lead their armies to victory. Featuring fast-paced, addictive cooperative and adversarial skirmishes, players can test their strategic skills with up to eight players at a time. Compatible with multi-touch technology as well as the PlayStation Move motion controller, players of R.U.S.E. can enjoy an immersive gaming experience on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 system and Windows PC with some of the latest and most cutting-edge technologies. In addition, R.U.S.E. features the IRISZOOM Engine (which allows players to quickly and intuitively zoom in and out of the battlefield) as well as a simplified interface.

R.U.S.E. Review

The art of deception can be pretty slick if it's played to the right extent. An espionage-based movie, for instance, will keep our attention if it has a hero who's a master of con games, or an extraordinary twist midway through that changes everything you've come to realize in the film. Ubisoft has adapted the art of deception into its latest game, the real-time strategy title R.U.S.E. And...
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Each battle is fought hard, each war hard fought, but the most difficult thought to accept is that to stand among the proud and free, lives must be lost. Such is the case in the often told stories of World War II, as many a sacrifice was made so that the rest of us may live as we do. R.U.S.E. puts the player in the shoes of a new army commander as he does his part to help the allies push the Nazi's back to Germany. While there are sure to be plenty of tanks, planes and infantry to assist in doing so, this game gives you access to the most important weapon of all: deception. This is what R.U.S.E. is based upon, and what separates it from the rest of the crowd. It's hard to believe that such a focus has been passed over for so long, because proper planning is one of the most important aspects of battle. Fortunately, R.U.S.E. succeeds in creating an entertaining experience based around confusing an opponent... or at the very least it has a clever guise to trick you into long sessions of play. It's one or the other.
To start off, R.U.S.E. is a slower paced game then most RTS titles. One that is less reliant on the commanderâ€™s actions per minute and more so on planning the right balance of attacking, defending, and using special abilities (RUSEs) appropriately. It brings a whole new method of warfare into the RTS genre in the art of deception. The majority of the special abilities in this title are made to trick the opponent into believing what the player wants them to, all the while hiding the true plans until the troops are ready to strike. There are a bunch to choose from and favourites will quickly be developed, though to be truly successful it is a good idea to use all of them when appropriate. From spying on enemies or initiating radio silence to prevent opponents from seeing friendly units, to messing with enemy frequencies so they confuse small units with large ones and vise versa. There is sure to be one R.U.S.E. that puts a smirk on the face of its user, because messing with an opponent's head is just as fun as messing up their tank squad with a bombing run.
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Ubisoft revealed yesterday that the PC version of R.U.S.E. will not use their infamous DRM scheme. Although the game will be an exception, it still represents the possibility of a shift in Ubisoftâ€™s policies with their PC games.
Ubisoft on their forums on August 11th announced that R.U.S.E. on PC will use Valveâ€™s Steamworks DRM. â€œIt will benefit from Valveâ€™s Steamworks API to offer the best community experience to players,â€ said a Ubisoft community manager. â€œFor this reason, R.U.S.E. will not use the Ubisoft protection. Single player can be played offline.â€ Users will need an internet connection to initially activate the game, but not to play it afterwards.
Ubisoft later confirmed that R.U.S.E. will be the exception, not the new rule. â€œWe will continue to use Ubisoft protection system on most of our PC Games,â€ said Ubisoft PR Manager Stefano Petrullo to VG247.
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So many games these days purport to offer "choice". The opportunity to "play the way you want". The chance to "be good or evil". Many attempt to make us believe that the choices we make will have a significant effect on the eventual outcome of the narrative. In some cases, this actually happens. Other times, it simply affects a few minor scenes throughout the game.
But in games where this possibility is offered, one thing is usually constant. The desire to talk about "your playthrough" with anyone else who is interested. And in some cases, people who aren't interested and find themselves backing away slowly.
Wouldn't it be cool if there could be some sort of permanent record of how players beat a game? And this doesn't mean a clear game file ready to import into the sequel. An actual, physical thing. Like a book.
Some clever people have had the same idea. Find out more after the jump.
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